| transitive verb |
| Definition -
A verb that has to have a direct object to complete its meaning. It expresses an action that is passing over to something else. Note: As opposed to an intransitive verb which has no direct object and which expresses an action that does not pass over to something else. |
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Example - She bought a dog (In the above, bought is a transitive verb and dog is the direct object.) |
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Etymology - The term derives from the Late Latin transitivus, which literally means "that may pass over (to another person)." |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation in this sense is from 1590: "A verbe transitiue … is such … as passeth ouer his signification into some other thing, as when I say, ‘I loue God’." (J. Stockwood Rules Constr. 64) |
